I have been writing about the intersection of science and ambition for over 20 years. I am currently the Editor in Chief at Sandisk (disclosure: I write about computing architectures, but am rigorous about avoiding conflicts of interest.It's my promise to you.). I've also worked at Eastwick Communications, Greentech Media, CNET and CMP. My work has also been published in Forbes, the New York Times, National Geographic, Wired and other places and I speak somewhat regularly at conferences. I've visited the Orkney Islands to study wave power, filtered through reams of SEC documents, quizzed Elon Musk about EVs, and volunteered twice to be electrocuted. All for the sake of entertaining readers. One summer, I also gave out coupons for free nickels at a casino in Reno.

Your LED Light Bulb Holiday Shopping Guide

LED bulbs are one of the best gifts you can give to someone this holiday season. Why?

1. Manufacturers have only relatively recently started selling bulbs in the $20-$30 range at retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s so there’s a very good chance that your intended recipient doesn’t own one yet.

2. Quality has dramatically improved in the last few years. Gone is the bluish “alien autopsy” light of older LED bulbs. Now most put out a warm, white light that is more pleasing than CFLs and close to the aesthetics of incandescents.

3. Nonetheless, the marketing has been weak—it remains a bit of challenge to find LEDs amid the numerous racks of light bulbs out there—so the odds remain low that a fellow shopper will try to pepper spray you or snag your selection out of your cart before you get to the counter.

4. LED bulbs are practical: they use 1/5th to 1/10th the power of conventional incandescents and ½ the power of CFLs. But it’s also the kind of gift that won’t provoke feelings of guilt or an outpouring of emotion. It sends the ideal message to the people you want to remember at this special time of year, but not get too chummy with.

5. LED bulbs make great conversation starters. Look at the comments following most news stories on LEDs. Will they help us curb energy consumption and greenhouse gases or are they a front for worldwide socialist domination? Everyone has an opinion.

6. The science and future implications behind them is quite interesting. Solid state lighting marks the biggest sea change in lighting since Edison unveiled his bulb to the public nearly 132 years ago.

7. They already probably have an aluminum tub filled with popcorn.

8. And finally, the variety is far greater than you think. Most of the light emitting diodes—the chip inside of the bulb that actually produces light— inside the bulbs on U.S. shelves come from a few manufacturers like Osram and Cree. The bulbs, however, differ wildly because of the other components and optical systems. It’s similar to the computer market: nearly all of them have the same processors, but each has its own personality.

Over the past year, I’ve tested a bunch of bulbs. If you’re going to buy, here are some recommendations.

1. Cree-Home Depot EcoSmart downlight. The corner of our garage that passes for a laundry room has never looked more dazzling thanks to this Home Depot-branded Cree bulb. If I am working at home and the cleaning woman comes, I work by the washing machine. Call me crazy, but it’s the best light bulb I’ve ever seen. It consumes 10.5 watts and costs $39.97and washes the garage in a creamy yellow-white light.

The problem? It’s a downlight and it doesn’t fit in lamps or many ceiling cans. An interior version of this bulb would be a huge hit. (Note: earlier I called it a spotlight. See photo. In lighting parlance, it’s a downlight because of how the light gets directed.)

2. Lighting Science’s Definity Bulbs. Lighting Science Group (LSG) is one of the more innovative companies in the market. It encouraged big box retailers to start selling LEDs. It is working on a bulb with Google that can be controlled with an Android phone. Next year, it will release a $15 LED bulb that puts out as much light as a 60 watt-incandescent. It also hopes to market LED bulbs that can help you sleep better and clean your bathroom in the coming years.

LSGsells everything from spotlights to typical bulbs and mushroom-shaped “omnidirectional” bulbs. The quality is top notch and the prices are low: retail prices range from $10 to $50, depending on power, light output and configuration. It sells under its own brand and the Home Depot EcoSmart label. That 40-watt equivalent LED for $9.97 that last year would have gone for 20? It’s from LSG. There are a few flaws: the $9.97 bulb can buzz in certain dimmer sockets and the $25 60-watt equivalent isn’t as bright as some, but when it comes to the price/performance ratio, the company is tough to beat.

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Michael Kanellos: I have to strongly challenge your claims about Vu1′s ESL R30 light bulb. You write a great pump piece for the LED industry which has to call into question your impartiality.

I’ve been looking a long time for a good, reasonably priced, energy efficient alternative to the incandescent light bulb. I’ve tried several LEDs and have found that the ones worth owning are prohibitively expensive. CFLs are a reasonable alternative, but I’m not crazy about filling my house with bulbs containing mercury and they are inadequate for dimming.

Several months ago I tried a couple of Vu1′s ESL R30 for two of my recessed lighting fixtures. I purchased them from a Seattle company, which I assume is where you got yours? It was apparently a trial run for Vu1 because it was their first and only shipment of bulbs made available to the public. Did you really even own one?

The light from my Vu1 ESL R30s was far and away a better quality light than anything I’d seen beyond the incandescent. And this is what I found to be particularly strange about your report. There wasn’t a trace of visible “green” in the light. In fact, it was a very warm incandescent yellow light. Nothing green or blue about it. I compared the brightness with 65 watt incandescents and 65 watt CFLs. (Haven’t made a comparison to a 65 watt LED yet. As I said, they’re expensive.) Vu1′s ESL was as bright as the 65 watt CFL, but with better color, and, to my eye, a little brighter than the incandescent (though in fairness the incandescents are maybe a couple of years old.)

Point being, you must have gotten a bad bulb and if you are going to write a review for a quality magazine/web-magazine on a new product, especially one as potentially technologically disruptive as Vu1′s ESL, you should be more thorough than to just screw the bulb in, look at it, and then “take it out immediately”.

I contacted this Vu1 company and I learned that the run with the Seattle-based company was, in effect, a beta-run. They did have some problems with their first model. One of my two bulbs burned out, which the company has refunded me for. But the problem wasn’t green light or that the bulb was dim. It was in the seal of the bulb breaking down over time from heat. A company spokesman–another source you should look into when writing a review of any kind–said that they did have some initial problems and since then the bulbs have been redesigned, they’ve hired a new manufacturer, and the new, updated bulbs will be available at Lowes sometime in February.

I had to comment here on your piece because I finally find a new light bulb that I like and has great possibilities, then I read your article trying to shoot them down before the company even has product on the market. That’s a real shame and one has to wonder what your objective is. You sure seem all aglow over LEDs here in your investment magazine. I just don’t want the same experience I too often have with a new tv program I come to like only to see it cancelled and replaced with, and yet, another stupid reality show.

Personally I hope to see a lot more of Vu1′s ESL technology because I like the light and I like their prices. Your review makes it sound like you’re afraid that more people may also come to like Vu1′s new lighting technology. I would just recommend taking a bit more of a scientific approach toward reviewing a new product for the public, because in this piece your biases are well-illuminated.

The comments from the author about VU1′s R30 ESL downlight are just not factual. First, when you stare into the bulb, because of the glass and its construction, it does not hurt your eyes, and that may make it appear to give off less light, or in his words, dim. The overall quanity of light distributed to the room, if you compare apples to apples, is very simular. The light quality is indistinguisable from incandescent. I have several of these in my home and am very pleased. I have no idea where the author came up with this rediculous green tint. I encourage everyone to go to VU1.com to get the facts.

Come to my house. I will show you how green you look. this is a white room with white walls. We have incandescents, LEDs and halogens in the room. It is the only bulb that gives us a sickly cast. My wife, daughter and I all came up with the same conclusion.

I found some pretty good deals on the new Philips A19′s on earthled.com They are offering a $10 rebate off any product or off the total purchase amount. These make great stocking stuffers for the eco-friendly people in your life. You may want to go with the warm whites. They tend to be more flattering than cool white.

I’m the lead inventor of the GE Energy Smart® LED bulb referenced in your article – thank you for including our product.

Though you commented on the look of our bulb, the appearance, occasionally referred to as a “tulip” look, was warmly received by consumers in several national focus groups, and the design was optimized to be as aesthetically pleasing as possible.

Perhaps more important, though, is the purpose of the design. The heat sink of the bulb was engineered to keep the LEDs as cool as possible, while matching the size and shape of a traditional incandescent bulb. The heat sink enables maximum efficiency and long life in a conventional shape, while at the same time allowing light to be emitted uniformly in all directions, unlike most LED replacements on the market today. This is GE’s latest entrée to replace our founder’s (Thomas Edison) incandescent light bulb with the energy efficient benefits of modern technology.

It is important to note that in your list of 9 LED bulbs, only GE and one other bulb have achieved Energy Star® qualification. Energy Star® qualification requires high energy efficiency, excellent color quality, and perhaps most importantly, uniform distribution of light in all directions as you would expect from an incandescent. Our design is what enabled GE’s lamp to become the first LED lamp in the world to be Energy Star® qualified as a replacement for a traditionally-shaped incandescent lamp of any wattage.

Regarding price, yes it’s still expensive, though one of the retailers that you mentioned now offers it at $30 in its stores, and the cost is expected to continue to drop.

We’re also introducing a 60-watt dimmable replacement LED lamp within the next couple of months that looks identical to the 40-watt equivalent, and is expected to be Energy Star® qualified, with a 75- and 100-watt to follow.

Thanks for the note. I do understand the design choices, considering the heat sinks and all. It’s a work in progress. In a few years the industry will standardize on a form factor. Yours could win. I could be wrong. But some of the others, in my view, may have a better shot.

As far as Energy Star goes, however, I’ve never put a ton of stock in it. Look at the server ratings. They aren’t very helpful.

Happy holidays & Merry Christmas. Thank you for this very interesting piece of article comparing current LED bulbs in the market. I would like to suggest another great 16 watt LED PAR bulb used for recessed lighting applications that could put out 150 watts equivalent warm white light using latest CREE XP LED. And it does not concentrate the light into round spot onto the floor like most LED PAR bulbs. The light output is a true flood light great for general area lighting in recessed fixtures.

Although Ideal LED Light is a new smaller start up brand, it uses the best CREE LED available and continues to upgrade their bulb using the lasted CREE LED technology available, and it has received very good customer feedback reviews on Amazon.

Ideal LED had a hard time keeping its 16 watt PAR30 bulbs in stock at Amazon during this holiday season. As you suggested in your article, many people really gave out LED bulbs as gifts holiday season since it sends a great message and the receiver would appreciate the cost savings and can enjoy its benefits for many years to come. Some people also simply convert the lighting in their home with Ideal LED lights and it not only impresses their family and guests, but it’s also a great conversation starter.

The current Ideal LED 16 watt PAR30 bulb is a non-dimmable model and its dimmable models and Omni-directional bulbs are undergoing testing and certification. USA release date is around late first quarter next year.

If you like, Ideal LED Light could send you their current PAR30 model to see if it matches or beat the others bigger players.